Page 27 of Always a Chance
I frowned at the cat. “At least someone wants you.” Milo was an old man at thirteen years, but he took crankiness to a new level. With one more look my way, he turned and sauntered away, his tail flicking in agitation.
I finished scrubbing my shoes and followed him, throwing the shoes in my room on the way. When Milo reached Gianna in her wheelchair, he jumped onto her lap, turned around once, and lowered himself like the cuddly prince I knew he wasn’t.
“You two might like each other if you stopped fighting.” Gianna stroked him with a lazy grin.
“He threw up on my shoes.”
“Not on purpose!”
“You so sure about that?” I wanted to step into the shower and douse my aching bones in blazing hot water. This morning, I woke up and needed to run off some of these emotions. Dad was already gone for an early meeting, and Gianna had been sleeping.
Now, sweat soaked through my shirt and streaked into my hair. Everywhere hurt from my lungs to the soles of my feet. And my sister was staring at me like she felt sorry for me.
I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when the doorbell rang. “Gigi, I—” It rang again.
“Are you going to get that?”
“Fine, but after, you and I are hanging out today.” That was one conclusion I’d come to on my run. I needed to spend more time with my sister just as much as I needed this interview with Johnny. Both were integral to keeping the life I had.
I heard Gianna’s wheels against the wood floors and smiled, knowing she followed me. In New York, we didn’t get people just coming to the door without notice. It wasn’t a thing. Who did that? One had to give adequate time for the person they were visiting to work through the anxiety of having to talk to someone.
Great for a reporter, right?
Pulling open the door, I stopped. Johnny and Aidan stood on the porch, the latter looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. Johnny, on the other hand, I couldn’t read. He had his hands stuffed into the pockets of his dark-wash jeans. A gorgeous Hawaiian shirt rested on his trim frame. I didn’t want to know how much that cost.
“What do you want?” The words were not what I’d planned to say.
“Cut the crap, Tali.” Johnny pushed the door wider and shoved past me. “We need to talk.”
I sent Aidan a confused look, but he shifted his eyes away and stepped in.
“Sure, come right in. No need for an invitation.” I shut the door.
Gianna smiled at them both. “Johnny can always come over. I like him.”
He gave her his most charming grin. “Well, at least someone does.” Turning to me, he pointed one finger. “You, come.”
“What makes you think I’ll do what you say?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and pushed out a breath. “Talia, I would like to speak with you. It’s important. Will you please accompany me?”
“Fine.” I hugged my arms across my body and followed him. He turned into my room and closed the door once we were both safely inside. I wanted to know what he saw as he turned to take everything in. My dad hadn’t changed anything since I lived here. There was little furniture other than a wall of bookcases and a mattress on a Hollywood frame. It was all I’d ever needed.
“Do you have a bed frame in New York?” he asked, not looking at me.
“Little personal, don’t you think?”
He shrugged. “I’ll bet you don’t. Some things don’t change as much as we try to make them.”
“Like my hatred for bed frames and top sheets?”
“Like you.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I liked to believe I was nowhere near the girl who left this place. “You have.”
“Really?”
I nodded. The boy I knew never would have faked a whole life. He’d always been true to himself. Yet, I couldn’t say that. “Your hair is shorter on the sides.”
